News

African oil sets sights on float

AN AFRICAN oil explorer backed by Glencore that was fined £6m for bribing government officials is close to launching a £700m float in London.

Griffiths Energy had intended to list a year ago but cancelled its plans after an internal probe revealed that it had paid $2m (£1.3m) in bribes to gain access to oilfields in Chad, the landlocked African nation that is ranked among the top 10 most corrupt countries by Transparency International, the campaign group.

The bribery allegations emerged just months after the company’s founder, Brad Griffiths, a prominent Canadian financier, died in a boating accident.

The cancellation of the fundraising opened the way for Glencore. The FTSE 100 commodities trading giant invested $331m last year in exchange for partial ownership of a number of its oilfields. They are expected to start producing this year.

Nine days ago Griffiths agreed to pay $10.3m to authorities in Canada, where